Meeting Finnley Grace

I know many of you have wondered about the story of Finnley Grace, and I finally am able to type it all out!

It all started with a doctors appointment that morning. I had a small amount of unexpected weight gain and of course my parents and I were concerned. My mom had surgery in January to remove a mass, so she was afraid that I may have the same thing. So; Monday, February 16th, I went to my pediatrician (yes, I was still going to the kid doctor). We got in pretty fast and of course, we waited for the doctor to come in. When he finally came in he asked all the typical questions they would ask for a check up at the doctor. Everything had been normal, and nothing was wrong with me except for some weight gain. Then "the question" came up. I told him everything and he asked me to lay on the table to feel my stomach. I laid down, and he pushed on spots of my stomach and he says
"Well, there is definitely a mass in there. I want to take a urine sample."

I'm starting to get worried at this point. I go to the bathroom, do my thing, get out, and hand them the cup. We wait in our room when the doctor comes in after a few minutes and says, "It was an extremely positive pregnancy test. But, sometimes, certain things can cause false positives. I'm going to send you to the hospital for a sonogram." He calls the medical center, gets my appointment set up for that day, and we leave the doctors office. I was in complete and utter shock.

By this time, it is noon and of course I'm hungry. My mom and I go to Subway and get lunch. I could barely eat anything because I was scared, and in shock. It comes times for my appointment and we head to the medical center. After sitting in the waiting room FOREVER, we finally get called back. I get back to my room, and we start the sonogram. The nurse was young and so sweet. She started the sonogram and I am staring at the wall, avoiding all eye contact. I hear her clicking on her computer and she looks at me and smiles, "There's the baby!". At this moment I cry and start having a panic attack. My mom's jaw is dropped and she says to the girl, "We just found out today.". The young nurse quiets her voice and speaks, "Oh, well I'm going to take some measurements.", she starts tapping and clicking away at the computer.

After a while, my eyes are red and puffy and I am wheezing from all the crying. My mom is by my side, holding my hand as tight as she can (and keeping it together really well). The nurse speaks again, "You are measuring at 39 weeks and 2 days. The baby isn't moving so we need to get you in a room and put monitors on you." My nurse also explains that I am too far along to know if its a boy or girl. My jaw drops and I look to my mom to know what to do. I get dressed and we follow the nurse to my room.

We get to my room. It is almost 2:30 pm. I undress, get on my gown, and they put the monitors on my stomach. "Have you ate any today?" my nurse asked me. My mom answered because I have gone mute by now. "She ate breakfast but that was hours ago." The nurses then give me fluids so that the baby will start to move. I'm laying in the bed and mom is doing everything to make me feel better She was being so supportive in any way she could. We sit for hours while nurses file in and out of my room. By this point my blood pressure is sky rocketing, which is not good for the baby at all. I have a nurse check on me and she asks "Do you feel that?" I reply, "Feel what?" She looks amazed, "You're having contractions sweetheart, you can't feel that?" Apparently I have a very high pain tolerance, considering I never felt the baby move or kick.

My doctor finally comes into my room. He looks me straight in the face and says "Well, you're blood pressure is getting too high, we're going to start prepping you for a c-section." They take me to a new room and start to prep me for surgery. My family finally gets to the hospital. My siblings just stare at me, wondering what is going on. By this time, I am having a full blown panic attack. I scream and tell my mom I can't do it, that I'm scared, and that I'm not ready to be a mom. They finally calm me down with washcloths on my head and an oxygen mask on my face. We then head back to the operating room.

They get ready to do my spinal tap and talk me through everything they are doing. I was so in shock that I didn't even feel when they stuck the needle in my back. They then lay me down to start my c-section. My parents come in and sit beside me to help me through the surgery. I honestly was so out of it during my c-section. I was falling asleep and loopy. I know that I remember seeing my sweet baby girl for the first time. 7 pounds and 20 inches long! She was so tiny and barely cried at all. My parents told me that while I was getting sowed up, that she was blowing spit bubbles, and sticking her tongue out constantly. I didn't have a name for her yet, so we called her "Little Frog" since she liked so stick out her tongue.

God blessed me with my sweet little angel this day. He had a plan for all of this! I don't know why he chose me, but I am thanking him everyday for my beautiful girl! Of course, it was a long, stressful, and scary day. My mom and I joke, "It was the worst morning, but the best day!" So, this was the story of meeting my sweet Miss Finnley Grace. Yes, it's a very long story, and I hope it was worth the read! In my next post I will talk about how it was telling Finnley's father, my friends and family, and how things changed so quickly for me. Feel free to comment and I hope you all enjoyed!

Temple